Browsing by Subject "Endurance training"

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Aging, habitual exercise, and vascular ischemia-reperfusion injury
(2009-12) DeVan, Allison Elizabeth; Tanaka, Hirofumi, Ph. D.
Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury occurs during myocardial infarction and during some cardiovascular surgeries. Animal studies support the role of endurance exercise training in preventing myocardial IR injury and coronary endothelial dysfunction. In human and animal studies, habitual exercise has been shown to attenuate endothelial dysfunction caused by aging and disease. It is unknown; however, if exercise can protect against vascular IR injury in humans and if so, whether these effects persist with advancing age. Using 20 minutes of forearm ischemia and the response of the brachial artery as a noninvasive surrogate model for the heart, the association between the mode of exercise training (endurance versus resistance) and vascular IR injury was examined in young healthy adults in the first study. Endothelial function, as measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in the brachial artery, decreased significantly after forearm ischemia, suggesting that this noninvasive model of the heart produces significant and measureable vascular injury. These measures returned to baseline levels within 30 minutes following ischemia, illustrating the transient nature of this form of IR injury. The magnitude of injury and recovery from ischemia were not significantly different among young sedentary, endurance-trained, and resistance-trained subjects, suggesting that exercise training is not associated with protection from vascular IR injury in a young, healthy population. In the second study, the association between aging, endurance exercise training, and vascular IR injury was studied. Twenty minutes of forearm ischemia was associated with a transient fall in brachial FMD in young and older sedentary and endurance-trained subjects. Young subjects recovered more quickly from IR injury than older subjects. Within 30 minutes of injury, the endothelial function of the young group was back to baseline while blunted endothelial function persisted in older subjects for greater than 45 minutes after injury. There was no association between endurance exercise training and enhanced recovery from IR injury. These findings suggest that aging is associated with delayed recovery from vascular IR injury and that endurance training does not appear to modulate the vascular IR injury responses.
Muscle force potentiation and motor unit firing patterns during fatigue : effects of muscular endurance training
(2010-05) Mettler, Joni Ann; Griffin, Lisa; Abraham, Larry; Farrar, Roger; Jones, Theresa; Spirduso, Waneen
Muscular fatigue limits athletic performance as well as activities of daily living that require repetitive or sustained contractile activity. The decrease in force output or inability to maintain a given force level during fatigue occurs as the result of neural and muscle physiological factors. In contrast to muscle fatigue, potentiation is an increase in muscle force following voluntary muscle activity. The simultaneously occurring processes of potentiation and fatigue influence force output. The aims of this research were to investigate parameters used to potentiate muscle via electrical stimulation and voluntary contraction, and to better understand how muscle force is sustained, we studied single motor unit firing patterns and force potentiation following muscular endurance training. In study 1, electrical stimulation trains matched for pulse number of various frequencies and of increasing pulse number at a given frequency were administered to determine the effects of these stimulation parameters and of the force-time integral (FTI) produced during the train on potentiation magnitude. No difference in potentiation magnitude was found across trains of matched pulse number for frequencies of 15, 25, 30 and 50 Hz. Potentiation increased as pulse number increased and there was a positive correlation between potentiation and the FTI. In study 2, we measured maximal potentiation following conditioning contractions (CC) of 25%, 50% and 100% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and during a 25% MVC fatigue task, pre-post 8 weeks of muscular endurance training. Results showed significant potentiation for all CC intensities. Potentiation increased as CC intensity increased and CC duration required to achieve maximal potentiation decreased as CC intensity increased. Muscular endurance training resulted in increased maximal potentiation, and potentiation was greater during the fatigue task after training. Potentiation was also correlated to endurance time. In study 3, the effects of muscular endurance training on motor unit firing rates were investigated. There was a small increase in mean motor unit firing rates during the course of the fatigue task after training. This research contributes to our understanding of muscular force production and muscular endurance. The findings suggest that motor unit firing frequency and force potentiation may contribute to enhanced muscular endurance.